London

Dec 30th 2023 - Jan 1st 2024

Saturday 30th December 2023

Home to Heathrow

Had a very lazy morning just grazing what was left from Christmas - and there was a LOT left.

Had our lunch and then leaded off to Flitwick to get Stuart. We’d decided at £16 per night to park at the hotel, it would be better to take one car!

We went via Woburn and saw hundreds of deer grazing on either side of the road. Apart from that highlight - a very uneventful journey. After picking up the newly ennobled Lord, we hit the M1 & M25 down to Heathrow. No issues on the M1 but were delayed around 20 minutes on the M25 because of an accident.

We got to the hotel just after 15:00 and were lucky with the parking. In previous years the Blue Badge spaces have been locked off and we’ve had to go and get the man to unlock a space - this year the nearest space was unlocked so nice and simple.

We went in to the Staybridge Suites - I’d requested a room with a walk-in shower but it wasn’t ready for us. The chap gave us some drinks vouchers and pointed us towards the free coffee machine and some comfy couches. We sat there for just under an hour which was very pleasant. One issue though - I noticed an email from the place we were planning to eat on NYE saying our booking had been cancelled. I called them and thankfully they re-did our reservations. Phew. When we did get our keys, the receptionist also came with some more drinks vouchers.

Headed up to the room (223) and got unpacked. Nikki had a bit of a doze in the bedroom and I watched some TV in the lounge. Realised you could see the Heathrow runway if you craned your head to the left by the windows.

Stuart joined us around 17:00 and we did presents - lots of fun! We went downstairs at 17:30 and met Matthew who was joining us for drinkies and dinner. We headed next door to the Holiday Inn bar where we could use our drinks vouchers. We’d brought Matthew a few cocktails in a can - so I just ordered a sneaky glass with some ice in and that was him sorted! Spent a very pleasant couple of hours planning our next cruise.

We headed off to the Toby Carvery in Slough in time for our 19:30 reservation. Got a nice booth and grazed our way through 11 tonnes of vegetables - to the extent that none of us was up for desert - not even a visit to McDonalds for a McFlurry - very unlike us.

Went back to the Staybridge Suite and got some coffee and sat on the couches reminiscing about radio in the 80s and 90s - poor Nikki. Matt went for his bus around 22:00 so that was that for New Year’s Eve Eve.

Sunday 31st December 2023

Heathrow

Not a bad night’s sleep - the bed at the Staybridge Suites is badged as a King bed - but I assume it was built for a very small King. I got up around 06:30 and sat in the lounge watching the TV before Nikki joined me around 08:20 for coffee. We got showered and went to meet Stuart for breakfast at 09:15.

Last year when we stayed here the breakfast buffet was a bit of a bear garden - much better this year. Found a table and settled in for a good hour.

Headed out around 10:40 to the nearest M&S Food Hall in Hayes for some nibbles for NYE. Then down to the big Tesco near Sky as they had the cheapest petrol in the area.

I’d checked which way the planes were landing at Heathrow and they were on 27L until 15.00 so we turned our attention to Myrtle Avenue. As usual parking was a nightmare but we found a little place on the main road and walked around. We knew there were 3 A-380s coming in around 11:45 so we were there about 10 mins before them. Absolutely freezing there - the wind had really picked up and despite big coat it was parky.

Watched the big beasts landing and took some great pics before thoughts turned to lunch. I’d seen something on one of the Facebook flyer forums about a new bar on the top floor of the Courtyard by Marriott that overlooks the runways so we decided to head there.

Deserted bar so we found some nice sofas and ordered some drinks and then some soup, bread, chips for lunch. Highly agreeable. They indeed do have a great view of the airport plus a balcony area with seating which we could go out on - bit cold but would be amazing in the Summer - we’ll be back!

After lunch we went to a nearby Asda in Hayes for more nibbles before heading back to the hotel for some mid-afternoon down time. Nikki went to bed and I dozed on the couch with Matilda on the TV - I know, I’ve never seen it - but then fell asleep and woke up absolutely freezing. Had the shivers for a bit but warmed up once I turned the a/c off!

Went down to the bar at 17:30 and met Matthew who’d decided to join us again after the high quality of our company - oh and food. We did the free drink vouchers and a glass of ice - but got busted by the Feds (barman) for Matthew’s self imported cocktails in a can. Damn you the Feds.

Headed off to The Three Magpies on the Bath Road - a long 4 minute drive - for our booking at 19:00. They put us on a nice half-booth round table. My expectations were not high as we’d driven by a few times and it looked quite rough. Couldn’t have been further from the truth. Really cosy and friendly pub. Sadly they’d seemed to have run out of loads of menu items but we made it work - not ones to cause a fuss! Thoroughly decent meal AND managed desert.

It was going to take Matt an hour on the bus to get home and he had to be up for an early shift on New Year’s Day so we decided to drive into West London to drop him off. Took about 25 mins and a very straight forward drive. Came back via Heston Services for a comfort break.

The area around the hotel was like a wind tunnel so we were glad to get back to the room. Stuart went off to get his nibbles and returned to our room. We caught the end of Graham Norton and then watched Rick Astley do the New Year’s countdown show. The fireworks were very good indeed - had a few going off in the distance near the hotel which surprised me as we were so close to Heathrow. Hit the hay around 00:30 and that’s 2023 done and done.

Monday 1st January 2024

Heathrow to Home

First day of the year and managed to stay asleep until around 07:30. Room was so quiet though - didn’t hear a peep from anyone else. Went and sat in the lounge and despite eating the weight of a small cow in dinner and nibbles last night - I still managed a Twix from a fridge with a coffee!!

Met for breakfast at 09:45 - much busier than yesterday as I guess most people were getting up later. Lingered for an hour before heading back to the room and packing for an 11:00 departure. Roads very quiet and after a stop at Tesco for some milk etc - we dropped Stuart off and were back home by 12:50.

Next year the plan is somewhere warm for New Year’s Day. Somewhere we can sit by a pool for the first day of the year.